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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. WALLIS.

. MATCH BOX No. 492,700. Patented Feb. 28, 1893.

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' F. WALLIS.

MATCH BOX.

No. 492,700. Patented Feb. 28, 1893- 1 wrrn?ss I INVENTOR k {59%. 4 g wa LITHQ. wnsamcmn u c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED WALLIS, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

MATCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 492,700, dated February28, 1893.

Application filed April 8, 1892. Serial No. 428,355- (No model.)Patented in England September 24, 1891,

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, FRED WALLIS, man ufactu rer, a subject of the Queenof Great Britain, residingat Edgbaston Street, in the city of Birmingham,England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMatch-Boxes,(for which I have obtained Letters Patent of Great Britain,dated September 24, 1891, No.16,215;) and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to an automatic or self striking match box, sofitted, and constructed that the matches, on being withdrawn one at atime, are struck and ignited.

Figurel of the accompanying drawings represents in vertical section, anautomatic striking match box, constructed, and arranged according to myinvention. The said box is so constructed and arranged that matches areboth delivered one at a time, and struck and ignited in the act of beingwithdrawn. Fig. 2 represents the said match box inverted and slightlyinclined, and which, when shaken, compels a match to fall into a lead,which is coincident and a lignable with the striker and mouth outlet ofthe box. Fig. 3 represents the said box in an inverted and uprightposition, and with the releasing lever shown pressed back, whichliberates, or forms a clearance for, the stem of the match to fallthrough, while its head is suspended or held by a catch stop at theinner outlet of the box, and when in this last named position, the leveris then released, and the match subsequently pulled, which draws thehead of the match past the catch stop, and then brings the said headinto intimate contact with the striker, hence the ignition, and shouldthe head he pulled off by the act of striking, the same is caught, andprevented from passing inwardly into the box by the semi-closed inneroutlet. Fig. 4 represents the match box, with a match withdrawn, struckand ignited. Fig. 5 represents the match box again inverted, or with itsstriking end uppermost, and with a match held torchlike, by the stemcoming between back of mouth and striker as a holder. Fig. 6 is a crosssection on the dotted line A Fig. 1, showbox, is a combined lever anding the arrangement of the semi-partitions, for taking off the weight ofthe bulk of the matches contained within the box from the one beingdelivered, and also keeping them in their proper relative positions.Fig. 7 shows the lever ends of the box. view showing the combined liningand semipartitions separately. Fig. 9is an edge view of the combinedlever and striker. Fig. 10 is a plan of the same. Figs. 11 and 12 areside views partly in section of a modified construction of my improvedmatch box.

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in Figs. 1 to12.

a is an elongated and rectangular shaped box or metallic shell, closedat its sides, fitted at bottom with a lid a jointed at a and with thestriking end closed, save for a small opening 0. of about the size ofthe head of a match, and with the same coming alignable with a load alocated upon one side of the box.

Fig. 8 is a detail Situated on the striking or top side of the strikerb, fulcrumed or jointed at 19*, and with the striking or serrated end bpartially closing the mouth entrance a, formed by a semi-shroud a",which makes as it were, to the striking side of the box, and acontinuation of the lead a The presser end b is pushed upward by thefree end 0 of a spring 0, held between a clip a and'the top of the box,and with the fore part c of the' said spring extended into a catch stop0 which intercepts the matches by their heads as they fall from theb0x,'and which are there held in a suspended position until the lever ofthe striker has been liberated, and the said match pulled forcibly fromthe box by its stem, which hangs out of the box as in Fig. 3. It will beseen that the tip 0 of the stop catch, slightly extends itself into theinner outlet a so that the inversion of the box as in Fig. 3, when thestriker is clear, allows a match to fall down the lead, and it becomesthen suspended by its head. The lever 0, turns within bearings or earsd, while the interior of the box has semi-partitions e, slightlyinclined from the sides toward the middle of the box, and in manner thatthe matches take a circuitous course, and are prean extended lip ventedfrom pressing unduly upon the one being Withdrawn. These partitions arepreferably pressed out of the same metal as the lining e, while the lidof the match box is secured by a catch a". The middle of the strikerpart of the lever is gapped and slightly sunken at if", and with theteeth or serrations slightly turned upward.

Operation: Place the matches within the box, between thesemi-partitions, with the heads presented toward the lid. Then invertthe box from the position Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2, with the sameslightly inclined toward the lead, so that the matches may fall and leanthat Way, when the same are shaken. The operation of shaking causes thefirst match by gravity, to fall slightly down the lead, with the stemdirected through the inner outlet, and with its extreme end resting uponthe striker. The pressing of the lever turns it upon its joint,andliftsthcstrikerclear from the match, when the same falls, until its headcomes in contact with the tip of the stop catch 0 when the match isthere retained in a suspended position. Releasing the lever, and pullingout of the match, causes the tongue of the yielding stop catch to moveaway, in obedience to the pressure exerted, and on the head or" thematch being free, and coming into intimate contact with the serratededge 19 ,01": the striker ly, the same is ignited, and the matchlighted, as represented in Fig. 4. Should the head be pulled off in theact of igniting, as is sometimes the case, the same is retained Withinthe chamber a located between the mouth a, of the box and the inneroutlet a hence the return of the ignited head into the match box, andthe lighting of the matches contained therein is prevented.

In the modification shown in Figs. 11 and 12 a is the box or shell, withinclosed sides, open bottom, and closed by a lid, with the metal at thestriker end of the box formed into a lever 19, fulcrumed at b and havinga presser part 19 and a striker part 19 C is a spring limb or rest towhich is pivotally attached the lever 19. The metal is made sufficientlythin, so that When pressed forcibly at b, as in Fig. 12, the strikerpart 19 gapes or cocks upward, and allows the stem of a match to fall,until the same is intercepted by the tip 0 of a split end 0 of thespring or inner support c,after which, the withdrawal of pressure allowsthe deflected metal top to resume its normal figure, and the striker toclose upon the match, and by the withdrawal of the same, the head isstruck or ignited.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. In a selfstriking match box the combination with the box a, and the pivotedstriker I), having an upturned serrated end 19 of the intercepting plateor spring a, by which the matches are suspended, after partialextraction and prior to ignition, and by which detached heads areprevented from returning to the box, substantially as described.

2. In a self striking match box the combination with the box a, of thebent plate (2' having the lips e, 6, extending into the box and formingsemi-partitions therein, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this16th day of March, 1892.

FRED WALLIS.

Witnesses:

HENRY L. KERRETT, ARTHUR T. SADLER,

Both of Birmingham.

